Our Fallen Angels
by Dragasen
Summary: Tom Rion is in to USMC. Twenty years later, he is a captain of USMC company, leading a squad that reminds him of his previous one. He fights, but works for one Goal. Getting them back to them back to the World. This isn't easy. It never is.
1. Chapter 1

Part One

Before I crawled away from the rubble of fear and death, I heard the distant sounds of my childhood; the fun; sadness; and love.

Great news, the world's in perfect shape. And I wonder how much sarcasm can be put into the sentence. I'm fresh out of selection and I can already feel my heart thumping. I was on my way to base, along Lieutenant Johnson, Me, Tom, and Brak.

Even though this wasn't everyone in our squad, but it sure did feel like we had everyone. I felt a cold shiver running down my spine.

We made our way to the chopper and took off.

I was fresh out of selection, but people in the Squad say the war's almost over.  
In my heart, I wished it was almost over. I wasn't ready to see and combat yet.

Lieutenant Johnson looked at us, "Hahaha! You kids are in a run for yer money, ya know? War is great for those who haven't experienced it." he said. Johnson wasn't a bad guy, but he was a heavy joker. I held my M16 close. After all, it was my best friend here.

Tom and I were cousins, our mothers were sisters. His blonde hair and green eyes always showed an ego, but he was never ever strict to show he supports his country. Both of us were fresh out of selection, and we past our athletic test, but we never seen combat. We never even shot at a human target.

Tom, on the other hand, had an M60 with bandoliers strapped across his chest. He kept complaining how heavy it was.  
"God, I can't stand how damn heavy this stuff is."

I laughed, "Told you to take an M16."

He narrowed his eyes at me, "Bite me."

Brak spoke up, "M60s are generally heavy. You won't be sprinting out of combat very good with it. You're pretty much a bright pink target."

"Why pink?" Tom growled.

"Valid reasons." Brak responded.

I howled with laughter, Brak was a funny guy. Even though I liked Brak, Mario hated him. Mario was our Sergeant. He happened to be the pilot for the helicopter.

"Hey Serg," I began asking, "How long you been in the war?"

"Uh about three years."

"Oh so what did you start off as?"

"Corporal Mario."

Brak muttered into my ear, "Corporal Douchebag."

My side ached with laughter as Tom and Johnson heard Brak and laughed with me.

Sergeant Mario turned around and looked at us "What's so damn funny?"

"Nothing Sarg! Nothing at all. Just... Watch out for that tree!"

Sergeant Mario spun around quickly, startled by the nonexistent tree.

The four of us broke out laughing.

Mario whispered under his breath, "Jerks. . ."

We made it to base in three hours just for Lieutenant Johnson to tell us it's time for dinner.

We had roast chicken and mashed potatoes.

I was back in the tent with Tom and Brak and the rest of our squad greeted us with a "Yo."

The rest in our squad were Lucas, Duke, Jackson, and Sam. We had other people too but they slept in other tents, I considered this my main squad.

"Hey guys, how was the trip?" Lucas asked.

I spoke up., "The village is okay, but the huts smelled like urine. . ."

"It seems like you to smell that."  
"Oh haha very funny,"

Duke commented, "Yeah! Seth always smells that stuff. I guess he's used to it."

I rolled my eyes, "Yeah yeah. Get all your smart ass comments out. But you forget, I sleep here with a M16. Watch it."

We laughed. I pulled off my gear and pulled on my plain white shirt and some sweats pants. "So, wha'd you guys do today?" I asked. Lucas was first to answer, "We just spent out time being happy without you guys here."

Brak replied, "And we spent up our time on a nice chopper with hot medics."

Lucas satup on his bunk, "Really!?"

Brak laughed, "I wish."

I jumped up to my bunk, which was one above Tom's. "Tomorrow we take the CQB test. After we're headin' to a boat down in the Atlantic. They say it holds big time Nukes."

"Holy crap, I guess I better train then, huh?" Brak said, a grin on his face. He jumped off his bunk and grabbed his M16 and aimed it at Lucas. Lucas jumped out of his bunk and hit the floor. "Are you insane?!"

Brak laughed, "The day I aim a M16 with a magazine in it is the I die. . . Or when I'm bored."  
Lucas sighed and jumped back on his bunker.  
Me and Tom cackled, and soon Duke and Sam joined.

Brak put his gun away and jumped on his bunk above Sam.

Tomorrow will be the first day I see combat.

The next day,  
I awoke to Lieutenent Johnson's shouts in our tent. "Wha.. What's going on?" I asked dazed.

Tom jumped out of his bunk, "CQB test."  
I moaned, "Great." I saw Tom strapping on his gear, "Make sure you don't bring a M60 with you. I don't want you crying again" I laughed. I climbed down the wooden ladder from my bunk and pulled out my suitcase that held my things. I decided to skip breakfast and just get the test over with.

Brak sighed as he strapped his belt on, "I don't see any point in this test, on the battle field I'm a better sniper."

Lucas spoke up from under his sheets, "Brak, we all don't want a bullet in our leg and you shouting 'Sorry! I'll get the next one', I ain't dealin' with that."

Brak grinned, "Of course you'll be the only one with a bullet in your leg, 'accidents' happen."

"Lord knows that's bound to happen atleast once." I said as I grabbed my M16. I polished it down, if these things weren't kept clean, they wouldn't shoot.

"I still think these guns shouldn't have a small round burst. It should be like a Uzi." Duke said as he grabbed his toothbrush.

I nodded, "They used to be like that, but since soldiers generally get scared and surpression fire, they waste ammo. And the ammo cost a lot of money. With a burst, it won't be wasted and it costs less money."

Duke sighed, "I'd rather have a Sub Machine gun."

Tom shook his head as he leaned against the doorway with his arms crossed, "I'm not sure you know how those work."

Duke replied, "I'm not sure you know me at all."

Tom brushed aside the strand of blonde hair in his eye, "I'm pretty sure you don't understand the recoil on those,"

Duke narrowed his eyes, and I took this time to change the subject. "I hear we're gonna be going to Russia."

Lucas looked up at me, "Oh yeah that small city in Russia. That's gonna be awesome."

"You know we're going there because the Goverment believes that Terrorist are hiding nuclear explosives right? It's not a vacation." I said.

"Yeah but I hear the city is great lookin'." Lucas replied.  
He kicked Sam's bunk to wake him up, but it turns out that he wasn't even there.

Just then we noticed Sam's dirty blonde hair pushing through the tent. "Hey."

Tom greeted him first, "Yo, where ya been?"

"Taking the test."

"How was it? Hard?"

"Simple."

I laughed, "Define simple."

Sam grinned, "Slide down the rope, melee the targets, make your way to position two, shoot the targets, position three, use your gun to shoot the down the targets, now make your way to position four and knife down the new targets, make your way to position five and flashbang the room and take down the new targets then sprint down to the end. Simple."

Tom laughed, "You have got to be kidding me. You call that simple?"

Sam shook his head, "It's simple when it's put into motion."

We made our way down to the grassy meadow where the test took place.

Lieutenent Johnson called out names, "Rion!" I sighed and jogged to the ladder and climbed up to the top tower.

Slowly I picked up the pistol on the table and walked to the rope.

"Start on my mark!" Johnson shouted.  
I took a deep breath.  
"Ready. . . Set. . . Mark!"

I grabbed the rope and slid down. I jumped to the prone position and climbed under the net, once I was done I saw plastic targets pop up. I pulled my knife from my waise belt and stabbed the first target in the head then kicked the second into half. I sprinted down to position two and pulled my pistol from the holster by my thigh and shot the first target down, then aimed at the other one. I missed two shots but got in the third. Finally I came to a large wall with a rope attached. I put my foot on the wall and grabbed the rope, next I put my other foot on the wall and pulled myself up the wall and leaped on the other side of it. Finally I exhaled my breath and breathed back in. I saw two wooden targets pop up. I shot at the first one and blew off a hole in the brain, I now aimed my gun at the other target and pulled the trigger. Nothing. Damn! Forgot to reload! I grabbed my knife from my belt and threw it at the other target, getting a shot in the chest. As I ran passed it I pulled it out and slipped it back on my belt. I reloaded my pistol and made my way to position three and ran into wooden room, then heard Johnson shout, "Flashbang through the door, Rion!"  
I grabbed a flash grenade from my belt and threw it into the room, shielding my eyes. I saw two plastic targets pop up, which I knifed down and sprinted to position five.

"Time!" Johnson shouted.  
I facepalmed, I screwed up. . .

"Good, Rion. Twenty seconds. That's our record for the day."

I walked back to Johnson, "No position six?"

"Uh, no. Where'd you hear that?"

"Nowhere, just speculated."

I walked back to the tent and looked at Sam, "I thought you said there were six positions."

Sam grinned, "I figure it'd give you momentum."

I laughed, "Good work."

Noon,  
We were in a helicopter heading to a boat in the Atlantic ocean, said to hold big time nukes.  
First day of combat and I was confident. Maybe too confident

On the chopper, I breathed carefully. Johnson was in the front next to Mario. Me and Brak were on the side looking out the at the ocean.

"Imagine if I slipped out." Brak said.

"I'll tell ya we ain't comin' back fer ya." Mario shouted back.

Brak grinned, "Hell, I don't need your crappy pilot skills! I bet I can swim better than you can fly!"

I snickered, as did Tom and Lucas.

I rubbed my neck, it scared me that I could die here. I could die now.

Don't be so stupid! I told myself. You're gonna be all right. I tried to think that, but it just couldn't get in.

Mario barked, "Alright, clip the rope and slide down!"

Brak clipped the top of a rope on the chair he was sitting on then slide down.

I watched Brak as he slid down the the deck of a boat.

"Now you, Seth."

I grabbed the rope and slide down, holding tightly. "Nice to seeya, dude." Brakk greeted as I planted my feet firmly on the ground.

I gripped my M16 close to me, Brak did the same. Now Tom was here and Sam was coming down now.

"Finally, Blondie of fashion!!" Brak shouted, "So do you think that suit is totally out of style?" He asked with a smirk on his face.

Tom laughed, "Bite me, Brak." Sam finally landed next to me and Lucas was on his way.

Soon everyone was down except Mario. "Contact me when you're ready. I'll swing by." He said then took off.

Johnson nodded to us, "Alright guys, get ready. First time fighting." He grabbed his MP5 and slowly walked over to the door behind him, "Rion, over here and kick the door open. After, the rest of you charge in. RIon tail behind them.

We nodded.  
I walked up to the metal door, and kicked it with all my might. It popped open easy. I moved behind the wall quickly as the rest of the guys charged on in. After Tom was in, I tailed him.

Brak's voice came up on the Communication line, "Stairs clear, Johnson."

Tom voice, "Hallway clear."

I moved downstairs and slowly walked behind Lucas.

"Target sighted." Sam said.

"Target down," Tom said.

Johnson's voice came in the Line, "Beautiful."

I walked behind Lucas untill Johnson told us to stop and look at the door on our left.

"Rion, gently creep it open and sneak in."  
I did as he said. I spoke into the CL, "Area clear, Lieutenent."  
Tom moved next to me and spoke in my ear, "Careful, Seth. I don't want to tell my Aunt how you died here."  
"I'll be okay."

We swiftly moved downstairs to the loading area of the ship.

Tom pulled out his pistol. "Tom, what are you doing?"  
"Shhh. . ."  
Tom aimed his pistol. . . And shot down an enemy target.

"Nice." Johnson said as he walked pass the body. We moved out slowly. . .

We all heard a scream, in Vietnamese. "We've been spotted! Move out! Take cover!" Johnson shouted on the CL.

I aimed my M16 at a enemy target shooting at Tom, who was crouched behind some cargo. I shot the man down and crouched behind some cargo. I head bullets smack against the cargo I was hidden behind. I was scared.

Mario's voice popped in the CL, "Do not use any grenades! I repeat do not use and grenades! I have readings of heavy mines planted! I'm not sure where! Do not use any grenades, over."

It was too late. Once Mario's voice came in, Duke was already throwing a grenade the group of enemies.

Once the grenade blew up on them, another explosion came out. Duke blew up a chunk of the ship.

"Duke! God damn it! We didn't find the nuke!" Johnson barked.

"That's alright! Just get out of there! It will sink with the rest of the ship! Just haul ass to the LZ, quick!"

I jumped from my cover and sprinted to the stairs, Tom and Lucas were right behind me. Duke was already running up the stairs. We made it to the higher deck filled with cargo and we sprinted through it.

But we all didn't sprint right. There was nothing we could do, nothing at all. Duke was infront od us, sprinting to the LZ when it happened. He stepped on a mine.

We weren't too far behind him but the impact of the explosion blew us off our feet. My head slammed against the steal floor. I saw Tom struggle to stand but finally made it. I closed my eyes, the pain hurt too much. My head was stinging.

I felt a hand grab mine, "Come! Come mate," Brak lifted me up, and when I was on my feet he told me "We were leaving, right?"

I nodded, and looked for my M16, "Forget it! C'mon!" Brak shouted. I dashed with the rest of the group.

We finally made it halfway to the LZ when I tripped to the ground. I tried standing up but something was wrong with my legs. I looked at my thigh and saw a bloody wound pierced my leg. "Seth!" Brak saw me and jumped off the chopper, I didn't see what he shot at but he shot his M16 over my head.

He dropped it to the ground and lifted mt up.  
As he sprinted to the chopper, it started to take off, a yard away.

Brak jumped off at the edge of the sinking boat, he threw me into the chopper and gripped on to the side of it, dangling out on the side.

I held my thigh, "Brak!"

Tom quickly grabbed Brak's collar and lifted him into the chopper.

I took a deep breath and breathed it out slowly. I laid my head down and sighed.  
Thank God.

Three weeks later,

The chopper took me and the full squad, except Tom, to Chernobyl. We thought this would be great. Boy, we were in for something.

We had to clear out these Terrorist spotted in the city. We spent out time here for a while. I thought I would have been scared, but surprisingly it wasn't too bad. . . for the first few hours.

We spotted these men in the city driving a Hummer down to the Nuclear power plant. We had to follow them. We never knew how much danger we would be in.

They were selling big bombs, I didn't hear it the full name, but I heard it was big. Really big.

We ambushed them with a Flank attack, this time I used a MP5 with Johnson. They had more men than we thought.

I took cover behind a steal wall, my heart thumped heavily.

Brak held an M60, believe it or not. He surpressed fired, pushing back our targets with a rain of bullets, untill he shrieked in pain and smashed into the dirt.

Johnson shouted, "He's hit!"

My eyes widen as I growled with rage, pulling myself from cover, I threw a grenade at them.

"Great shot, Rion!" Johnson shouted.

I noticed a bullet flying through the air, but it seemed to curve and land into the wall, next to my shoulder.

"Drop down! Enemy sniper ahead!" I shouted.

I jumped to prone position and held my breath. I reached for Brak's M60, as I did I stared at his face. No emotion.

Brak was dead.

Johnson grabbed the M60, seeing how I was frozen with shock. He blasted the area where the bullet had come from, then jumped down. We waited for a bit, then stood up. "Target down."  
Mario's voice popped in the CL, "Guys I have rumors of more Terrorist act on the other side of town, haul ass and get over here now."

Johnson replied, "Copy that. We're on our way."

Lucas grabbed my shoulder, "Listen mate, right now we need to defend our country. Just calm down for now,"

I nodded and wiped my eyes and ran with the rest of the group to the LZ.

Once we loaded into the chopper we took off.

I laid my head in my hands and mourned for Brak.

I can't even tell you what happened next.  
I felt the chopper jerk painfully, knocking me to the very edge of the chopper. I held on to the wall, trying not to fall out.

"WHAT'S HAPPENING!?" Johnson shrieked.

I DON'T KNOW THE CHOPPER JUST BLEW OFF COURSE! I CAN'T CONTROL IT! IT'S LIKE SOME IMPACT IS PUSHING IT!" Mario screamed.

I looked out of the chopper and saw a huge explosion. "A NUCLEAR BOMB?!" I screamed. The way it looked, it was obviously a nuke.

The chopper jerked harder and spinned with blazing speed, I saw Johnson gripped his seat.

Then I saw Johnson flying out of the chopper, "LIEUTENANT!" I shouted but it did no good. He was gone.

I heard Lucas praying behind me. His words came out loud and clear.

"This world will never be what I can understand, and if I don't belong. . ."

Some time later,

Seth opened his eyes, he saw a blinding white light, then it cleared up. He saw the crashed Helicopter from the inside.

Slowly, he crawled out, looking at the dead bodies of his squad mates. He wasn't feeling any emotion, he was just a brainless zombie at this point.

He crawled out of the chopper and accidently fell of the tip, crashing into the ground.

He slowly looked around of the Ghost town that used to be Chernobyl. As he crawled through, he saw the body of his

Lieutenant Johnson's arms were bent downward, and his legs were bent upward like angel wings. Blood splattered around his head and made it look like a halo.

Seth passed it.

As he slowly raised his head, he saw the Mushroom cloud above. Feeling pain in his ribcage, he heard in his ears the sound of him as a child.

The very love he was given.

He heard him playing in the city park, as his vision blurred. Finally, he laid his head down.

His vision turned blindly white again as the last sound he heard was his mother telling him these exact words.

"I love you."  



	2. Chapter 2

I walked toward the the chopper. The wind blew past me with an icy chill.

"Captain, c'mon we're gonna be late!"

"I'm comin', don't rush me."

I walked faster to the chopper and slipped my Desert eagle back in its holster as I sat next to George.

"So Tom, when are we gonna fight for our country?" he asked.

I shook my head and replied, "Once you know how to pull the pin from a grenade."

George laughed, "I figured you'd make a sarcastic remark."

"I figured you'd tell me that I made a sarcastic remark."

I know what you're saying, I'm being mean to the kid. But I've had a lot on my head and I just can't think straight.  
It has been nearly two decades since the Chernobyl incident and I just can't shake the feeling that I'm still lucky.  
Lucky that I didn't go on that trip with my squad. Lucky that I didn't die with my cousin.

"Yo Tom, we got a CL with a squad about three miles from here. They need a pickup. Their original chopper was blowned down by enemy forces and they're under heavy fire. Tell me what to do."

"Pick'em up. Move it, we don't need anymore coffins on our conscience."

"Roger."

Peter jerked the chopper to the east.

"So kiddies, you've been dyin' to see combat, and you're going to. Ready your assault rifle. Peter, speed up."

George grinned. He was a young boy from Florida, I still wonder if he knows what he's in for.

We had seven people in this helicopter. Me; George; Peter; Aaron; Mate; Gerard and Cory.  
We called Steven 'Mate' because he always called people mate. He was also Australian, and I really wanted to speak with his accent.  
Australian accents always sounded nice.

Peter pressed down a red button in the front and spoke into the CL, "Hey we're three hundred yards away from LZ, we'll gun down whatever enemy targets we see in sight, but make sure you're here in three minutes, over."

A husky voice came into the CL, "Roger."

I stood up, "Aaron and George, I want you to get on those turrets, shoot down any think that appears red on the sight.

They nodded and jumped to their turrets.

"Peter, I'ma slide down and try to locate the squad. Mate, you're with me."

Peter gave me a thumbs up.

I clipped a rope to the seats lined up in the chopper and slid down. MAtecame down shortly.

I crouched down and slowly walked by the meadow. "Attach your silencer, Mate.."

"Already did, sir."

I nodded and continued.

"Captain, I have sightings of enemy targets nearby."

"Their mine." I said as I slipped my knife from my belt and clicked it out.

"Nice knoif there, mate. Make sure you keep it clean."

"Always keep my 'knoifs' clean." I said with a quiet chuckle.

I looked around and saw two men standing by a house. I silently walked towards one of them in a crouched position.  
"Dude, over here."

The man turned around to look at me, but I already had my knife across his throat.  
I slipped my knife in my belt and grabbed my Desert eagle from my holster.  
Through the window of the house, I saw two men sitting down and chatting.

About three yards away there was one man standing with a pistol in his hand.

I crouched down and walked under the windows toward the man. Using my desert eagle would make to much noise, so I pulled out my knife. I swiftly covered his mouth with my hand and stabbed my knife in his lower back then again in his neck.  
I put my knife back in my belt and pulled out my Desert eagle. I walked up to the door of the house.

I held my breath as I kicked open the door and aimed my gun at one of the men sitting down.  
As the recoil pushed my hand back slightly, I saw one of the men fall off his chair and land on the floor.  
I quickly pulled my hand back up and blasted the gun again at the other man.

I exhaled, it's been a long time since I've used my Desert eagle.

"Peter, I located the squad, we're coming to the LZ." Mate called in.

I sighed and slowly turned around and saw a AK-74 up to my face. The person who held it had an angry look on his face. He growled at me, then pulled the trigger.  
Nothing.

I grinned then slapped the gun away. I smashed my knee into his stomach and grabbed my knife from my belt.  
I swung it at him, but heard something clang.  
His knife clanged with mine.  
"Holy crap, you're not an easy one, are you?"

He clenched his teeth and pushed me away. "You not going to leave here alive!" he shouted.

"Oh really?" I replied with a smirk.

I threw my knife at him, aimed for his head, but he brought his hand to shield him from the knife.

Hopefully you know what happends to a fleshy arm versus a steel knife, right?

He dropped down on one knee, holding his arm. He pleaded, "Please, no kill me! Please have mercy!"

I shook my head, "No can do." I pulled my Desert eagle to his forehead. "Say hi to my cousin for me, will ya?"  
I pulled the trigger.

"Captain, hurry the hell up!" Mate's voice popped on the CL.

I jumped over the body and sprinted to the LZ.

The chopper was in sight, men were climbing up the rope. I was two yards away when I saw one of the men's torso pop with blood and he fell off the rope and smashed onto the ground.

I turned my head to see where the bullet had come from and saw a man running with a AK-74 in his hands.

I aimed my gun at him as he aimed his at me. I went prone once he started firing and shot my Desert eagle with one hand at his chest.

I stood up and sprinted to the fallen man. Once I was in range, I kneeled down to him.

"You're gonna be alright, man. Just hang in there!"

His eyes fluttered when he tried to nod.

I grabbed his limp body and lifted him up, "Pete, lower the chopper so I can get him in!"

The helicopter lowered down and I ran inside and sat the man down.

"What'cha name, son?" I asked him.

His hand dangled lazily, "Richard."

"Alright, Richard. You're gonna be alright, man. Hang in there." I told him. As if that could help, the kid has taken a bullet through the torso.

I searched his body for the wound. It was in his stomach. A clean shot.

While on the ride he seemed to have fallen asleep, so I checked his pulse.  
Nothing.

This was something that happened everyday. Men and women died for their country everyday.  
I always thought of these people as our fallen angels.

"Never pity those who embrace death, but pity those who suffer with life"


	3. Chapter 3

I felt the hot needles splash against my back. I was the only one in the showers.  
I started thinking that the squad I worked with three days ago made me feel like I was in my old squad, twenty years ago

Mate reminded me of Seth for some reason, he had short black hair up to his eye like Seth.

I started thinking of Seth again. What if I had been in that chopper? What if I had died with my squad?  
These questions kept burning inside me.

I used my memories of Seth to wash it away.

We were eight years old. Seth and I were in a park with our parents on a hot summer day in New York.

Seth ran to the playground and grabbed a stick and saluted me.  
"Seth Rion, Sir!" he said. "When I grow up, I'ma be in the army!" he shouted.

"When I grow up, I'ma be a Captain! You're just gonna sweep the floors in our school." I said and pushed him down the slide.

"Captain? We're not talking about pirates, Blondie!" he shouted from the bottom of the slide.

Blondie. Everyone called me that, and Seth started it. I used to hate it as a kid but when I grew up I thought it was pretty funny.

Seth's dad came over, "Hey kids, what's with all the shouting?"

Seth ran over to his father, "Dad! When I grow up, I'ma be in the army! I'ma have a such a big gun!"  
He pretened the stick was a gun and shot down invisible people.

He laughed, "Now Seth, remember this: you weapon is always made by the lowest bidder."

I arched my eyebrow at him, "What's that mean, Uncle Tom?"

He ruffled my hair, "You'll learn when your older."

When I'm older. People always told me that. I still don't know what he meant by that.

I turned off the shower and grabbed my towel and made my way back to the tent.

Once I was in bed I found myself thinking of more memories of Seth.

We were thirteen years old. We were walking to school, very, very, very slowly.  
It was a icy cold day and Seth asked me "So, how much do you think our lives will suck during math?"

"Uh, what period is math?"

"Fifth period, I think."

"Well, after fifth period we have lunch so I say I have something to look forward to." I said.

Seth turned to me, "You actually like the school food?"

"What's wrong with the pizza?" I asked.

"How do you know it's pizza?" he said with a laugh.

I paused, "Never thought about that."

We laughed and heard the bell at our school for first period.

"Oh crap!" I shouted and we dashed to school in a hurry.

I tried to think of more memories, like our high school years.

I was running towards Seth outside of the school.

"Hey! Seth! Dude! Look!"

He looked over his shoulder at me, "Hey man."

"Look! I got an A+ on the math exam for the semester!"

He sighed, "Nice."

"So, wha'd you get?" I asked.

He handed me his paper and started walking away.

"Oh. . . Uh. . . C-. . . Well I'm sure you can still pass!"

He turned around and stared at me in the face. " 'Well I'm sure you can still pass' my ass! I failed both math and english, to major subjects. I don't think I will be passing the semester."

"Oh sure you will!" I said and patted him on his shoulder. He thrusted his shoulder forward, knocking my hand away.

"I don't want you sympathy." he growled at me.

I had forgotten that his father used to pat him on the shoulder. "Listen, Seth I'm sorry. . . I forgot-"

"Save it! I don't wanna hear it." he said to me with a cold voice and walked off.

"Seth, he was my uncle too!"

"I don't care!"

"I do! My mother named me after him, he was like a father to me."

He spun around and stomped toward me, "And where the hell was your own father?!"

I glared at him. Through clenched teeth I told him, "That's just the thing. I never got to meet him."

"Yeah, because he was such a damn drunk he forgot where he lived."

"Shut up, Seth!"

"Atleast my dad doesn't go out to buy beer and doesn't come back for fourteen years!"

I pushed him back, turned around and stormed off.

I shook my head. I still hated Seth when he said that, I hated the fact that it was true.

I shifted positions in my bunk and tried to remember something else.

We were twenty one. Seth was going out for his birthday and getting his first beer.

He got a long island ice tea. He kept acting like it was the best day of his life, and it was the best day of mine.

It still pains me to think that a year later, he'd die in Chernobyl.

Some time later,

The squad and I would be going on patrol somewhere in the forest because there has been enemy sightings near there.

We had to be quiet, but incase if we fell into any heavy fire, I did have a M60 with the bandoliers strapped across my chest. I laughed a bit every time I remembered Brak saying how heavy the M60 was.

We had to be quiet. But we also had to find our enemy quickly.

We were sneaking through bushes when we heard voices. Arabic voices.

I gestured for the group to fall prone. Mate was beside me.

I whispered to him, "Use your ACOG scope and tell me if you see anything."

He looked through his scope, and we had to wait a few minutes untill he finally said "I have a positive ID of enemy targets. Open fire, mate."

I told the rest of the group and we jumped to our feet and fired.

We heard a voice scream, then bullets started flying back at us. The bullets seemed to miss me, but I didn't pay too much attention to the rest. But there were no crys in pain, so I figured they were okay.

Mate jumped down and shouted to us, "They got grenade launchers! Get down!"

I fell on my right knee, but I didn't mean to. Pain started filling my knee and soon I turned my attention to everyone else.  
George was lying on the ground holding his stomach.

"GEORGE!" I screamed and tried running to him, but something prevented me from moving.  
I looked down at my leg and saw a bloody wound ripping through my pants.

"I'm hit!" I shouted as loud as I can.

Mate came by my side, "Don't worry, sir. I'm callin' in a chopper, stay alive, mate."

I crawled towards George, but felt unbelievable pain in my wrist. I was shot in the wrist, but I continued to crawl towards George, I couldn't let him die.  
Finally I was by his side, "Don't worry, man! C'mon! Stay with me! You can do it!"

He tried to speak but blood filled his throat, so his words came out as a gurgle.

"C'mon. . . You can do it. . . C'mon!"

That seemed to comfort him, but the pain in him burned away that comfort quickly.

My vision started to blur as I laid my head down on the sharp grass. My words echoed as I screamed George's name, but it did no good. No good at all.  
I felt my body being lifted up and put into the chopper, which I hadn't even notice was there.

George was laying down on the chopper floor. I watched the rest of the squad continue firing their guns, but they disappeared once the chopper took off.

I grabbed George's hand and squeezed it, "C'mon George. . . survive!" my words still echoed in the blurry vision.  
I was unconscience once I had felt George's hand, then his pulse. . . 


	4. Chapter 4

_**((--Private Bertin Caterlin AKA Mate.--))**_

"Get up, soldier. You're not dead yet."

My body was aching, my skull was thumping, but not as hard as my heart.  
"Mate, you okay?"

"I'm fine, I think."

I opened my eyes. Captain Tom was looking up at me. "You alright?"  
"Fine."

I grabbed my sniper rifle off the grass next to me. "What happened?" I asked. Tom seemed injured, his face showed no emotion.  
"Where's my m-16?"

"Here."

Peter handed me my m-16. My throat was dry, but I ignored it. Standing up, I continued along the squad.

"Stop." Tom said. "Sniper in the tower."

I looked up at the tower. A small man with a sniper rifle was looking at us. "Looks like he hasn't seen us yet."  
Scratch that, he didn't see us.  
I aimed my sniper rifle at his head, then pulled the trigger.

"Great shot." Gerard said with a smile.

"Hey, Mate, come over here." Tom said.

I walked over to him, putting my M21 back on my back.

"Mate, you know how to make a Ghillie suit, right?"

"Yes..."

"You're a good sniper, right?"

"Yes?"

"Make a ghillie suit." he handed me a spool of fishing wire.

"But those take hours to make!"

"It's worth it, Mate."

It's worth it... Right.

We spent two days in a abandon house. My hands were stinging. making Ghillie suits were irritating. Making them perfect was the part that I hated.

Tom attached a silencer on his M16. "Okay, squad. We have two days untill the LZ picks us up. We need to kill our target before then. If we do so, we can call in a gun ship to pick us up. So, the faster we do this, the faster we get out of here with a big airplane made to blow !&# up. Sound good?"

Everyone said at once "Hell yeah!"

After an hour, my ghillie suit was complete.

"Alright, squad, lets go." Tom announced.

We traveled through the city without being noticed and killing only two men. Both of which were asleep.  
We camped at a old Hotel on the twenty-third floor. My back was aching.

Tom dropped his suitcase that he was carrying. At first he told us it was a m60, but we found out something.  
It was a Barrett M82.

I lined up the heavy sniper rifle out the window using a foot stool.

"I have a clear shot on the enemy trading spot, sir."

"Good."

Three hours later

I was half asleep when Tom nudged my arm. I woke up to see Tom pushed over my shoulder with his binoculars pressed against his eyes.  
"Enemy target dead ahead. My binoculars can't see their faces, though."

I looked through my scope. The purple sky and dim light made it hard to see their faces. One of the men pulled out a flashlight, lighting up my vision through the scope.  
I pulled away from the scope, then looked at the picture on the stool next to me, then looked in the scope again.

"The man in the middle, I have confirmed the ID of the man in the middle. He's our guy. Permission to fire."

"Not yet."

We waited a few minutes, then our target stepped in his car.

"Sir! He's about to leave! Permission to fire!"

"Not yet."

Then, the car started and he began driving. I kept my scope on him in the driver seat. I also felt Tom's gaze locked on me.

"Fire!"

I pulled the trigger. The bullet flew through the air, then crashed through the window. I saw blood splatter in the window and the car swerved on the road, crashing into the other cars, which crashed into other cars and caused a domino effect.  
Then, they crashed off the road.

"Good shot." Tom said with a large, large smile.

Yet his smiile seemed fake. Some reason, he felt uneasy about our sniping location.

As if he's been here before. 


	5. Chapter 5

_**((--Pvt. Cory Bowman.--))**_

We dashed from the sniping spot. My head was throbbing. Tom, Mate, and Terry were in the front. They were the fastest. We ran downstairs. So far, no one knew we were there. Tom raised his hands as he pushed against a wall.  
He made his hand into a fist and put up his index finger and his middle finger, then pointed to his eyes, then pointed outside.

This meant look out for snipers.

Tom was a unusual Captain. Not like one I have had before, and that really makes me feel good. Like he'll try his best to keep us alive.

My last Captain, Captain Bentler, always sent me out to do the hard - to near impossible missions, and I'm only a private. I felt like he did this to me because, out of our squad, I was the african american soldier. He'd always send me to distract enemy targets. I always had the feeling that I was going to die because of him, but luckily he died by a sniper.

It felt wrong to say 'Luckily he died by a sniper' but I know I wanted it to happen. I know racism still wanders around in our earth, but I didn't know I'd be the victim of such extreme racism.  
Tom made me feel a lot better about being in the war-- not that it is possible to feel good in the war, because that feeling is truly rare. It comes once in a while, but it lasts only seconds then fades when fear comes back. But I have learned that fear can be an advantage. It drives you to do certain things that you wouldn't be able to do if you were normal. rying to run away from heavy gunfire is hard when you aren't driven by a overwhelming fear, the fear can make you run with blinding speed.

My arms were aching, but I still had to carry the sixty. It was heavy, but I was the best one for the job.

"Cory!"

"Yeah?"

Mate was talking to me, " I have a sniper spotted, but a part of his arm is showing. Not enough to kill him, but from what I can see, there are a group of Ghillied snipers none of them spotted us. I can't take them all out,so I need you to tear up the trees."

I looked at Tom, "Permission to fire, sir."

"Permission granted, but get a clear shot on their position before you go tearin' up the area, got that? ACOG it first."

Gerard handed me his ACOG scope.

I had a clear shot at the group of snipers, six of them to be exact. Not normal, however, for all of them to be in one spot.

Not normal at all.

"Sir! Don't you think it is odd for a bunch of snipers to be grouped and not spread out?"

Tom looked at me for a second, then snapped his fingers, "You're right, Private. Mate! Get to higher ground, get a good sighting on the group of snipes, and look around the area for anyone. Bowman's right, it is odd for a group to be in one without backup like that."

Mate nodded and ran up the stairs. He didn't return for a while, so I took this time to sit down. I put the sixty on my left, away from everyone else.

My neck was aching, my arms were tired, and my back was kinked.

"Don't worry, Bowman. Once we're at the LZ, we'll be picked up by a gunship. You can put that thing down soon. Trust me, I know how heavy it is."

I could see he knew how hard it was to lug around this hunk of death. He had thick muscles all around his body, yet he was somewhere around his late thirties. Maybe early fourties, but I wouldn't ask him that. It seems disrespectful to ask a man his age in the war, maybe it wasn't, but I try not to disrespect anyone with authority.

Gerard looked at me, his light green eyes gave me the feeling that he was reading my mind. "Hey Captain, how old are you?"

I widen my eyes, did he really read my mind? How the hell did he do that?

Tom looked at Gerard, "Thirty-nine."

He grinned, we're like twins. We always think alike. That can help on the battlefield.

Mate returned, and I stood up and grabbed the sixty. "There are a large number of snipers spread out, one to the east, two to the west, one north of the group, and three south of us. They seem to think we're here, but they are not sure."

"Can you take them out one by one?" Tom asked.

"No, they all have clear shots on each other. If I killed one, they'd know we're here."

"Perfect..." Tom growled. He was frustrated, if we didn't get to the LZ in three hours, we'd be stuck here.

"If we did this with force, one would alert others, and we would be screwed." Aaron acknowledged.

"Right." Tom agreed, "Maybe we can call the Gunship."

"Now?" I asked.

"Yup, now." Tom said with a large grin.

We called the Gunship. Turns out the entire Hotel was surrounded with heavily armed terrorists. They shot down the Snipes, but they had to use a thicker shot for the large amount of hostiles that had us surrounded.

The guy controlling the main gun on the Gunship was new to it, but they let'em use it. I just hope he used it well.

I hoped.   



	6. Chapter 6

_**((--Lieutenant Harry "Flisk" Marsciano--)) **_

"Get off that gun, boy." I said to the Private.

"W-wha'?"

"Get off the gun, I'm controlling it. Not you. I have more experiance."

He got off the gun and slowly backed away.

I looked into the scope, six blinking figures were pushed behind a wall in a run down abandon hotel. I saw six others huddled together North of the friendlies. I switched to a lighter shot, then tore them apart. I couldn't see the exact details, but I know it was a horrible sight to the friendlies.

_**((--Pvt. Gerard Hunt--))**_

I watched as the Gunship ripped up the snipers. It was like a force field was inside of them and it got bigger in their stomach, then blew them up.

The smell of burning flesh filled my nostrils, and I wondered if the stench would ever leave me.

One day, I hope I never had to smell it again.

I have no idea how to describe what it smelled like, or what the bodies looked like. A correct description would be impossible, but I figure this is the best I can do.

The smell was that of a rotting corpse, or rotting cheese. Rotting cheese mixed with a smell I can't describe. I wish I could, then I would know that being in the war doesn't change your life completely. I wanted to be able to describe stuff from the War to people in the World, but it was just so hard. It is just so hard, so hard to the point to where I regret signing up for the Army.

_**((-- Lieutenant Harry "Flisk" Marsciano --))**__**  
**_  
There was a incredible amount of unfriendlies on the other side of the hill, South of the Hotel. It was amazing they didn't rush into the Hotel.  
I switched to a larger shot.

"Hey Flisk, careful there. A lot down there. Make it a one shotter." Johnson came up in my headset.

"Already on it." I replied.

I took the shot. The boom was black, but I saw a lot of bodies flying. Hell, hundreds of bodies. I wonder what it would look like if I was down there... All those bodies flying everywhere. I know the friendlies can't see them, but I wonder what it would look like.  
God, I fkin' hate it when I think like this. The idea makes it horrible. Any guy who is actually down there, the unfriendlies, who survived the shot see it, God damn. What the hell do they see when I shoot?"

Johnson's voice was back on my headset, "Enemy vehicle approaching right."

"Got'cha."

The ship swerved right, and I saw a unfriendly vehicle riding across a street. It had a gunner on the back and was shooting at the Hotel.

"Bit smaller this time." Johnson said.

I switched to a smaller shot, then blew that road up. I saw black smore fill up, but gunner truck flipped upward and smashed down a road in flames. It disgusted me.

_**((-- Pvt. Aaron McEntire --))**_

The area was filled with smoke, I couldn't see a damn thing. Besides the burnin', smokin' bodies of them terrorists, all I saw was black smoke. I try not to think about home, but mama came up in my head. I missed her. I missed her, and Darlene.  
Then I thought about Darlene. I was going to marry her. Was... I tried to remember some good things. Like how I used to always score the winning touch down in high, but that was atleast five years ago, can't keep thinkin' of the past.  
Then I thought about Peter. He was a cool guy, one of my best friends. I hope he doesn't get killed. When we go back to the World, I wanna meet up with him. I think he lives in Jersey, and I live in Texas. Long time away, but I still wanna meet'em. Really cool fella. He might have to get his hair cut soon, it is getting too long. But I think I like his hair--

I stopped thinking about Peter. It felt weird after a while, so I began thinking about someone else.

Damn, who can I think of?

I guess I can think of the War, instead of someone. What was there to think about in the war? You join a squad, go out and shoot at st, then do some other crap. I really think it's boring, but hell, one day we'll get some action. Kick some ass, that's what Marines do.

I grabbed my dog tags and read the long one.

'McEntire  
Aaron S.

I realized something about my long dog tag. My social security wasn't on there.

I squinted at the blot where the number should be, and saw that it was scratched out. Oh yeah, Gerard did that accidently.

Tom lifted up my head, his blonde hair dangled from his head slightly, it made him look so...

"You comin' or what?" he asked.

"Y-yeah, sure." I replied. I followed him and the rest of the Squad to the LZ. 


End file.
